1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to access monitoring. More particularly, it relates to the use of a telephone device such as a cordless telephone as a monitor of whomever is home.
2. Background of Related Art
Whenever a person makes a call to a household that they are very familiar with such as their own, they typically want to talk to a particular household member. However, using conventional telephone equipment, a caller has no knowledge of who is at the called household (if anyone) unless someone answers the telephone call and informs them.
There are times when an authorized caller might want to know who is home, and/or when they arrived home or left home. For instance, a parent might want to determine if and when a child has arrived home from school.
In a business scenario, a supervisor might want to know if a particular worker has arrived at their office. Moreover, the supervisor might want to know if and/or when that particular worker has left the office.
In a commercial scenario, a parole officer might want to check on the whereabouts of a particular criminal without having to actually visit each household of the persons under their watch.
It is often frustrating to some callers to call in to their own household or business from a remote telephone only to have a telephone answering device or other voice messaging system answer the telephone call, leaving as a mystery whether or not anyone is at the household or business and is simply screening their calls, or even not knowing who is at the household or business. To such frustrated callers, it is often desirable for them to know which members of their particular household or business are resident at any particular time.
Using current technology, a caller must either presume the presence or absence of a particular person by calling them or their household, and based on whether or not the call is answered presume the presence or absence of the desired person or persons.
There is a need for an accurate and remotely accessible monitoring system which allows a properly authorized caller to determine if a particular person is in the called home or business, and/or when that particular person (or persons) arrived and/or left the premises.